Michigan Lunch and Break Law

August 3rd, 2006 Posted by Sarah

Recently, I’ve been researching state lunch and break laws, as well as other work-hour related issues. In Michigan, the state law only regulates the meal breaks for employees under the age of 18. State law mandates that employees ages 14 to 17 be given a 30 minute meal break if they have worked five hours or more. This may be an unpaid break.

While Michigan law does not have any lunch and break provisions for workers 18 and over, residents of the state should know that they are covered by several federal regulations.

Federal law does not mandate any specific meal or rest breaks. It does, however, give guidance as to whether or not an employee should be paid during these times. Short breaks (usually 20 minutes or less) should be counted as hours worked. True “meal periods” are usually 30 minutes or more, and do not need to be paid as work time. During an unpaid meal break, a worker must be completely free of his or her work duties. If the employee is still required to do any duties (even minor duties such as answering a phone), it can’t be considered a meal or lunch period and must be paid.

Federal law also contains regulations related to employee pay during times of waiting, sleeping and traveling. Whether or not waiting time needs to be considered paid work hours depends on the circumstances.

If an employee is at the workplace and allowed to do something of his or her choosing while waiting for one task to be finished or for another to begin, it is generally considered paid work time. A common example of this might be a fire fighter reading a book at the station while waiting for fire calls. On the other hand, if an employee is “on call” at home or elsewhere and waiting to be called upon, it is not generally considered paid work time. For this to be the case the employee must also have great freedom to do what he or she wishes while on call and have plenty of time to respond to the calls.

When it comes to travel time, the principle to observe is that time spent in the normal day’s commute to and from work is not considered paid working time. However, if an employee is traveling in the course of a days work, it must be considered paid work time.

Another final issue of interest may be sleeping time. An employee required to be on duty less than 24 hours is considered to be “working” even if he or she is permitted to sleep during some of those hours when not busy. If an employee is on duty more than 24 hours, a sleeping period of no more than eight hours may be subtracted from work hours. However, this can only be done if sleeping quarters are provided and at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep may be achieved by the employee.

A listing of state and federal regulations relating to lunch and break law may be found on the Michigan Complete Labor Law Poster. This poster also features information on all other state and federal labor law requirements.

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Posted in Employment Laws, Michigan, Wage and Hour

  1. Posted by: Bob Therriault

    In Michigan, what constitutes the difference between Full time and Part time status? My Boss says I CAN NOT work over 29 hours (I’m part time) a week. Is this true? Thanks

  2. Posted by: Sarah

    Hi Bob! Michigan state law does not define what constitutes part time and full time employment. However, an employer can legally set limits on the number of hours that an employee can work. In this case, the employer may really be saying, “You cannot work more than 29 hours per week, because I can’t afford to pay you” or “You cannot work more than 29 hours per week because under company policy, that will make you a full time employee and we’ll have to pay you benefits.”

    Some companies intentionally hire a lot of part time workers, to avoid paying benefits.

    For a more complete discussion, feel free to post your question on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. And, thanks for reading the blogs! ~ Sarah

  3. Posted by: melanie

    I have worked for a company for 3 years and I don’t get a lunch break or just a break. We were allowed to eat up front by the register, now the manager won’t let us do that. What can I do to fight this? thankyou

  4. Posted by: Sarah

    Hi Melanie! Unfortunately, there is no Michigan or federal law that requires employers to give meal or rest breaks to workers. Several states do have such a law, but Michigan is not one of them.

    However, most Michigan employers that do not give workers a break, permit employees to snack at the work station. OSHA regulations require that workers be permitted to drink water.

    It is not reasonable for an employer to expect an employee to put in an 8 hour shift without eating anything — but it is legal in Michigan. Most employees in this situation would simply look for another job. For a more complete discussion, post your question on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. And, thanks for reading the blogs!~ Sarah

  5. Posted by: jesse

    If I wanted to report a company or companies for not taking taxes out who would I contact ? And can I stay anonymous?

    Thank you for your time!!

  6. Posted by: Sarah

    If you believed that an employer was illegally paying workers “under the table”, you could report that to both the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov, and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (or DLEG) at http://www.michigan.gov/dleg. You can post additional questions on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Sarah

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